Community Church Sermons
July 9, 2006
2 Samuel 6:14-19
Margaret I. Manning
Well, you’d have to
have been in a coma for the past month or so to not have heard about the global
phenomenon that is World Cup Soccer!
Today’s match will decide the winner between France and Italy. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been swept
up in this sports drama! Now, I know in
general, we Americans are somewhat baffled and befuddled by the fanaticism stirred
up by this global sporting event. But
you’ve got to know that the rest of the world takes about a two month holiday
in order to cheer on their team in these games. The world loves this sport!
What I love the most about watching World Cup soccer matches are the
fans. They are a story in and of
themselves! I mean they follow their
team all around the world…they carry and wave their country flag, they wear
their country colors, or paint them on their faces, they dress in wild
costumes, and they cheer their team and jeer the opponent with clever chants
and slogans! I’ve seen fans rush the
field a-mass at the end of a game to surround their team with a group
embrace, and of I’ve also seen fans
having a group prayer, folding their hands and looking up toward heaven
imploring God to help their team win!
It’s like a worship event!
Yesterday afternoon, as Sonny and my mom and I watched Germany beat
Portugal for the third place in the World, I was reminded again that like no
other sport, World Cup soccer fans are as much a part of the game as the
players on the field. They are not
passive spectators; these folks are just as involved as the athletes in the
overall experience of the game.
Now as I marveled at
the involvement and enthusiasm of World Cup soccer fans, I began to think about
Christian worship. How enthusiastic are
we about our worship of God? Do we
share the same enthusiasm for coming into the presence of God, with the people
of God, like we see demonstrated by fans of the World Cup? For those of you who are not interested in
World Cup soccer - do you feel the same enthusiasm for God as you do for a game
of golf, or tennis, or how about for those Lady Vols? I’m sure we could think of lots of examples of things about which
we show enthusiasm. But, I want to know
if we share the same ‘fan-like’ enthusiasm about worship? You see, just as fans become caught up in
the love of the game, so we too, as we grow in our love for God, should be
caught up in worship. So, this morning,
I want to look at what it means to have enthusiastic worship – worship that
engages us as active participants both in the worship service, and as we go
out to serve God with our lives, as a result of worship.
Our texts this
morning provide us with two wonderful examples of active involvement in
worship. They help to show how worship
is NOT a spectator sport. In our text
from the psalms, the psalmist exhorts the people to, “Shout joyfully to the
Lord.” “Break forth and sing for
joy.” Now, when is the last time you
gave God a joyful shout? How about
it? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Now, why does the psalmist exhort the people to shout joyfully
and to break forth and sing? The people
are told to sing and shout to God because of all the wonderful things God had
done for them. Namely, the psalmist
reminds them that God has provided salvation and has ‘remembered lovingkindness
and faithfulness to Israel.”[1] In fact, God is so worthy of praise that
the psalmist encourages all creation to join in the songs and shouts of the
people of Israel in praise of God’s salvation: “Let the rivers clap their
hands; let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord.” For the psalmist, worship becomes a means by
which God’s people remember and reflect in their worship the mighty acts and
the wonderful character of God on their behalf! At the foundation of enthusiastic and active worship is a proper vision
of who God is and all that God has done on our behalf.
King David had this
kind of vision and enthusiasm for God, as our text from 2 Samuel shows. Let me set the stage for this most unique
worship event. The Ark of the Covenant
had been captured by the enemies of Israel.
Now, the people of Israel believed that the Ark was the house of God,
the very symbol of God’s presence and favor towards the people. So, you can understand that there might be a
bit of enthusiasm about the return of the ark to Jerusalem – since its return
indicated the return of God to Israel!
You see, when the Ark was in Jerusalem, the people believed that God’s
favor returned to them and that God was again dwelling among the people. David, then, out of his enthusiasm and love
for God, dances before the Lord with all his might. Do you remember the last time you danced
with all your might? Was it at T.G.I.F.? Or was it a sock hop in high school or
college? Do you remember the
exhilaration and the fun? This is the
same kind of exhilaration David experienced over the return of the Ark. In fact, David is so enthusiastic about
God’s return, that he dances his garments off!
Now, I am not suggesting we dance naked before the Lord in our worship
service! David did not do a
strip-tease! But you need to know that
in order for David, or any man for that matter, to dance with all his might, he
would have to draw up his long tunic around his waist – thereby, exposing
himself. So, his dance before the Lord
makes him look foolish, but he doesn’t seem to be concerned. David’s enthusiastic love for God draws him
into worship that is solely focused on God.
He doesn’t worry about how others might view his enthusiasm. Rather, David worships with his whole body –
his worship engages all of him, and, as a result engages all the people in the
worship of God. The text tells us that
they dance, shout, play the trumpet, leap, and bring various forms of offerings
to the Lord. At the foundation of enthusiastic
and active worship is a carefree abandon that forgets about the self, and
focuses completely on God.
But this text also
points out that enthusiastic worship is not just about an individual experience
of worship for God, but is also about what is done on behalf of God as a
result of worship. Worship is both a
vertical experience of praise to God, and it’s also meant to be a horizontal
experience that blesses others with acts of service and love. The text tells us that David blesses the
people in the name of the Lord and then, he provides food for them. The text tells us that “he distributed to
all the people, both men and women, three cakes of bread – wheat, date and
raisin cakes” before they departed home.
Now this was an extravagant and extraordinary blessing, and perhaps
Jesus had this event in mind when he fed the 5,000 during his ministry. Commentators speculate about the nature of
this extraordinary meal; perhaps, the people were hungry after their long,
worship celebration, or as other commentators suggest, perhaps this was a meal
offering typical of Canaanite, pagan worship that David incorporates into the
worship of Yahweh to elevate Yahweh over all these other gods[2]. Whatever the case, David does not simply
worship God and do nothing for all the people gathered together with him. He blesses them, and part of that blessing
is the meeting of their physical need.
Worship, as we talked about last week, is a way of life, and David’s
example shows us that when we have enthusiasm for God, we’ll also have
enthusiasm for serving others; worship in action! At the foundation of enthusiastic and active worship is a desire to be
a blessing to others, as we’ve been blessed!
So, now you might be
wondering, what does enthusiastic worship mean in our context today? Do we need to dance in the aisles, wave our
hands in the air, or keep silent as we enter the sanctuary, to engage in truly
enthusiastic worship? Do we need to use
incense, and a prayer book, do we need to kneel and stand in order to engage in
worship? Do we have to shout? Should we look like World Cup fans in our
worship service? Well, let’s think
about it this way. The word ‘fan,’ a
word all of us would attribute to ourselves in one way or another – like, “I’m
a fan of organic gardening; or I’m a fan of baseball or I’m a fan of golf” - is
defined as an ardent devotee; an enthusiast.[3] Does the way in which we worship indicate
that we are a fan of God? Do we come to
worship with a sense of devotion and enthusiasm, a sense of engagement and
anticipation because of who God is, and because of what God has done on our
behalf? Does our worship service
highlight and expand our enthusiasm for God?
Does our worship reflect the greatness, the majesty, the wonder, and the
creativity of God? Beyond our worship
service, do our lives reflect an active participation in worship as we serve
and love our neighbor?
You see,
enthusiastic worship isn’t primarily about the style or the elements we use in
worship – traditional or contemporary, liturgical or common. There are many different styles, rituals,
and traditions that can be used to aid worship; but style is not worship. Enthusiastic worship isn’t really about
whether or not we have emotional expressions of worship for God in joyful
singing, shouting, dancing, laughing, or if we sit in quiet reverence, silence
and stillness. The issue should not be
over the ‘what’ of enthusiastic worship, but rather over whether or not we have
enthusiasm. So often, our enthusiasm is
compromised when we take for granted all that God has done on our behalf. Our worship services can become petrified
and stilted, when our vision of God is small.
But when our vision of God enlarges, worship becomes enthusiastic! When
our heart attitude is full of gratitude and our vision of God is full grandeur
and glory, worship engages us. And when
we are full of enthusiasm, we won’t be able to contain it when we come into
this service on Sunday, and when we go out from this service to live and love
and serve. Far more important than
style, or elements, rituals or tradition, is our commitment and devotion to
God. To become active participants in
worship, we must first be fans of God!
Worship is NOT a
spectator sport. It involves all of who
we are and engages every part of us.
Just like the fans of World Cup soccer find many ways to express their
‘fanaticism’ and their devotion to their team, so our worship service can and
should use many different styles and elements.
Sometimes those elements will be familiar and comforting, sometimes
those elements might be disturbing or uncomfortable – just as God comforts, and
just as God disturbs and makes us uncomfortable. And since we have an inexhaustible and creative God, we should
use many different kinds of creative gifts; music and song, as we do, but also
dance, visual art, and poetry, just as some examples. Most important, since our God longs for the world to know the
depths of God’s lovingkindness, our worship should always prompt a response in
us to share God’s love by giving more of who we are in service to God, on
behalf of one another. I believe that
an enlarged vision of god will lead us to think in great and grand and creative
ways about how we worship corporately
and how we live as a result of worship in
the service of others. My
prayer for us all is that we’ll be swept up into a fanaticism for God that
leads us to enthusiastic and engaging worship – both in our worship service, and
in our service of worship to the world around us. Amen.